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July 2013 Archives

Members of the University of Nevada women's basketball team and coaching staff spent some time out in Stead today to assist Habitat for Humanity. The group worked together to clear trash, debris, and other materials around a house that will be remodeled and prepared for a family to move into shortly.

Former Nevada golfer Louise Yi advanced through sectional qualifying and will compete next month at the U.S. Women's Amateur.

Yi tied for second at her sectional event, firing a 72 at Neshanic Valley Golf Course in Neshanic Station, N.J. last week.

The U.S. Women's Amateur is slated for Aug. 5-11 at the Country Club of Charleston in South Carolina.

Yi finished her senior season at Nevada this spring and was third on the team with a stroke average of 77.69. She'll return to Reno this fall to complete her bachelor's degree.

The U.S. Women's Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA. Play begins Aug. 5 with the first of two rounds of stroke play. After a cut, match play begins on Aug. 7 and continues until a 36-hole championship final on Aug. 11.

The 2013 Mountain West Football Media Days event concluded today at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. Head coach Brian Polian, quarterback Cody Fajardo, and defensive tackle Jordan Hanson attended the event for Nevada, where interviews and photo/video shoots took place in preparation for the upcoming season.

Former Wolf Pack standout Michael Allen is in the driver's
seat for his second major championship today as he enters the final round of
the U.S. Senior Open with a two-shot lead.

Allen, who starred for the Wolf Pack in the 1980s, has won
four career events on the Champions Tour, including the 2009 Senior PGA
Championship in his first ever start in a Champions Tour major. Last year, he
qualified for the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club, his home course in San
Francisco.

Allen opened the U.S. Senior Open on Thursday with a 67 and
then fired a 63 at Omaha (Neb.) Country Club on Friday. He carded a 72
yesterday and goes into the final 18 holes today with a two-shot lead over
Kenny Perry and Fred Funk. Among those also in contention are Rocco Mediate,
Corey Pavin and Mark O'Meara.

"We're pulling hard for Michael," Nevada men's golf coach
Jacob Wilner said. "He's been a huge supporter of our program through the years
and I'm happy that he has this opportunity today."

Allen won twice on the Champions Tour last year and then
picked up another victory earlier this year at the Mississippi Golf Resort
Classic.

Former University of Nevada pitcher Tom Jameson who signed as a free agent with the Arizona Diamondbacks after just completing his senior season has been promoted from the Arizona Rookie League to the Triple-A Reno Aces. The Reno native will join to Aces in Tacoma tonight.

In four appearances in the Arizona Rookie League Jameson tossed five innings and did not allow a run while earning a save.

Jameson posted a 20-18 record with a 4.38 ERA and 157 strikeouts at Nevada. He appeared in 60 games and made 53 starts on the mound. After going 7-2 with a 2.55 ERA his junior season he earned first-team All-Western Athletic Conference honors. His 20 wins is tied for eighth most in school history and 328.2 career innings pitched ranks third. In addition to the 20 wins he recorded two saves his freshman year and tossed four complete games.

The University of Nevada Wolf Pack is searching for a new golf coach to direct the women's program. Chad Spencer, who was the head coach of the Pack for the past three seasons is returning to Fresno State, his alma mater, to take over the Bulldogs men's program from the retiring Mike Watney, for whom Spencer played.

"Chad is a good golf coach and a better person," Pack athletics director Doug Knuth said. "We hate to lose Chad but we wish him and his family well as they return to their alma mater, Fresno State. Our golf programs enjoy great community support and we have access to some of the best golf courses in the country right in our backyard. A national search for a new head coach for women's golf is underway and we expect great interest from coaches around the country."

Nevada returns all but one player from last year's team that tied for fourth at the 2013 Mountain West Championships. That includes junior Nikki Prichard and sophomore Caryn Khoo, both of whom boasted stroke averages below 76 last year.

The Nevada men's golf team is enjoying a successful offseason thus far.

Incoming freshman Rhyne Jones is leading the Nevada State Amateur after Monday's first round at Thunder Canyon. Jones fired an even-par 72 and is tied atop the leaderboard with Bryce Greeley of Las Vegas. Wolf Pack senior Josh Baskins shot 74 on Monday and is alone in fifth place while senior Ryan Mulvany carded a 79 and is tied for 17th place.

The State Am continues today and concludes on Wednesday at Thunder Canyon.

Mulvany has had a strong summer already. He won the Winnemucca Amateur by three strokes in June after shooting rounds of 70 and 69. Mulvany then won the Northern Nevada Amateur (June 29-30) by four strokes, again with rounds of 70 and 69. Baskins shot 75-69 at that event and tied for third place.

Wolf Pack coach Jacob Wilner showed his own chops on the links in June when he won a qualifying event and advanced to the USGA's Public Links Championships, which are later this month in Virginia. Wilner was also third at the Winnemucca Amateur and fifth at the Northern Nevada Amateur.

Former University of Nevada closer Zak Basch has reached the Big Leagues but not in the typical fashion for the former Wolf Pack closer. After nearly five seasons working in public relations in the Pacific Coast League for the Reno Aces and Sacramento River Cats, Basch joined the Oakland A's public relations department on July 1.

Basch was the Pack's closer in 2003 after transferring to Nevada from Hofstra. In his only season he posted a 3-3 record with nine saves and an ERA of 2.23 tossing 48.1 innings for the 32-24 Wolf Pack. The nine saves is tied for the fourth best season in school history and is tied for the seventh most in a career at Nevada. Following his time at Nevada he was drafted in the 13th round by the Boston Red Sox and also spent time in the A's farm system.

He played on one of the most talented Wolf Pack teams in recent years as five of Basch's teammates have played Major League Baseball in Brett Hayes, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Chris Gimenez, Chris Dickerson and Eddie Bonine. Seven other members of the 2003 squad played Minor League Baseball.

Deonte Burton on his USA Basketball tryout;"It was a great experience and very humbling
to be there and be noticed as one of the top point guards in college
basketball.I gained a lot of
experience and got to test my own game against the Big 10 and Big East players
and see how my game is different from those players.It was not much different and it gave me
confidence for my senior season.It
could have gone my way and I made the team and represented my country but I
have a job to do here at Nevada."

A third-team Mountain West selection Burton averaged 16.3
points per game to rank second on the team and fifth in the conference his
junior year. His 3.61 assists per game led the team and were sixth in the
MW. The 6-1 point guard also ranked sixth in field goal percentage (44.9
%), fifth in steals (1.35 spg), fifth in assist to turnover ratio (1.53) and
third in minutes played (34.1 mpg) in the conference.

Burton ranks 10th on Nevada's career scoring list with 1,459 points. His
121 steals is eighth and 373 assists is ninth all-time at Nevada.

In his first season at Nevada he was named the Western Athletic Conference
Freshman of the Year and earned Player of the Year honors as a sophomore after
helping the Wolf Pack to a conference title. His sophomore year he was
named to the AP honorable mention squad.